Kinsman Redeemer

In May of 2011, my sister Vicki Presco called me and said;

“We are the only ones left.”

Vicki informed me aunt Lillian had died and our brother, Mark Presco, had disappeared after severing all ties with his family. Vicki and I had not been getting along since she dropped out as Executor of our late sister’s estate. Christine Rosamond Benton was in debt. She filed for Bankruptcy. The Np.1 creditor who filed a claim, worked for the Getty family finding them tax shelters. Lawrence Chazen was my father’s private lender. Vic Presco was convicted of loan sharking six months after Christine died in 1994.

Vicki wanted to make amends, and I asked about Drew Benton and Shannon Rosamond, Christine’s daughters. We concluded we had to bring them into the fold, we not the only ones left. I went to Bullhead City knowing I was the Go’el redeemer of Drew and Shannon. I needed an ending for my books, especially Bonds With Angels began in 1992.

Drew was nine when her mother died. Now, her father was dying. Vicki and I were very concerned. I did not get to know Drew, and we exchanged words for the first time on Everquest. Our avatars met, and she said;

“My long lost uncle.”

In the last three months we have spoken on the phone. Vicki took our niece in as Kinsman Redeemer. A week ago Drew took an interest in the painting I am about to do of Mary under a tree on Anacapa Island. She does not know much family history on her mother’s side. When Vicki and I converse, we talk about our past while Drew is present.

Vicki has done a wonderful thing. As a Christian she is following the dictates of God. Our family Tree had been redeemed – along with our amazing history – and the land where this history has been made!

Jon Presco

Copyright 2012

Goel

Goel (go’el) is a Hebrew term which comes from the word gal’al (“to redeem”), hence meaning “redeemer”, which in the Bible and the rabbinical tradition denotes a person who as the nearest relative of another is charged with the duty of restoring the rights of another and avenging his wrongs. In the Authorized King James Bible, it is rendered “kinsman”, “redeemer”, and “avenger”.
In the book of Isaiah God is called the redeemer of Israel, as he redeems his people from captivity; the context shows that the redemption also involves moving on to something greater. In Christianity, the title goel is applied to Christ, who redeems his believers from all evil by the payment of a ransom.

Contents
 [hide] 
1 Duties of the goel
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
[edit] Duties of the goel

Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld: Ruth in Boaz’s Field, 1828. The Book of Ruth tells the story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi. After her husband’s death they both move to Naomi’s native land where she gets redeemed from poverty and widowhood through Ruth by her goel, Boaz.
The obligations of the goel include the duty to redeem the relative from slavery, if the latter had been obliged to sell himself into serfdom (Leviticus 25: 48-49); to repurchase the property of a relative who had had to sell it because of poverty; to avenge the blood of his relative; to marry his brother’s widow in order to have a son for his brother, in case the brother had not got any son to pass his name forth (Deuteronomy 25:5-6); and to receive the restitution if the injured relative had died (Numbers 5:8).
Numbers 35:9-30 regulates the duties of the goel. The congregation has to judge the case before it puts a murderer in the hands of a goel. More than one witness is needed for conviction. In case of accidental manslaughter, the slayer can save his life by fleeing to a “city of refuge” and staying there for the term of the high priest (who is appointed for his lifetime). Ransom is not accepted for murder. Revenge cannot be taken on the offender’s children or parents (Deuteronomy 24:16). Leviticus 25:48-49 gives the order in which the nearest relative is considered the goel in the case of redeeming a slave: brother, uncle, male cousin and then other relatives. The same order was probably observed in the other cases, except in marrying a sister-in-law.
Jewish tradition has also ascribed to the blood avenger the role performed in modern times by a prosecuting attorney, who thus pleads on behalf of the victim the case against the criminal. Thus, he is responsible for bringing the offender to court, finding evidence against him, presenting the case to the court, and collecting damages from the offender. It is also his task to argue against any attempts to pardon the sinner.[1]

GO’EL ():

Table of Contents
Avenger of Blood.
Next of kin, and, hence, redeemer. Owing to the solidarity of the family and the clan in ancient Israel, any duty which a man could not perform by himself had to be taken up by his next of kin. Any rights possessed by a man which lapsed through his inability to perform the duties attached to such rights, could be and should be resumed by the next of kin. This applied especially to parcels of land which any Israelite found it necessary to sell. This his go’el, or kinsman, had to redeem (Lev. xxv. 25). From the leading case of Jeremiah’s purchase of his cousin Hananeel’s property in Anathoth (Jer. xxxii. 8-12) it would appear that in later Israel at any rate this injunction was taken to mean that a kinsman had the right of preemption. Similarly, in the Book of Ruth the next of kin was called upon to purchase a parcel of land formerly belonging to Elimelech (Ruth iv. 3). It would appear from the same example that another duty of the go’el was to raise offspring for his kinsman if he happened to die without any (ib. 5). This would seem to be an extension of the principle of the Levirate Marriage; hence the procedure of “ḥaliẓah” was gone through in the case of Naomi’s go’el, just as if he had been her brother-in-law. The relative nearness of kin is not very definitely determined in the Old Testament. The brother appears to be the nearest of all, after whom comes the uncle or uncle’s son (Lev. xxv. 49).
Another duty of the go’el was to redeem his kinsman from slavery if sold to a stranger or sojourner (Lev. xxv. 47-55). In both cases much depended upon the nearness or remoteness of the year of jubilee, which would automatically release either the land or the person of the kinsman from subjection to another.
As the go’el had his duties, so he had his privileges and compensation. If an injured man had claim to damages and died before they were paid to him, his go’el would have the right to them (Lev. v. 21-26 [A. V. vi. 1-7]). The whole conception of the go’el was based on the solidarity of the interests of the tribe and the nation with those of the national God, and accordingly the notion of the go’el became spiritualized as applied to the relations between God and Israel. God was regarded as the go’el of Israel,

and as having redeemed him from the bondage of Egypt (Ex. vi. 6, xv. 13). Especially in Deutero-Isaiah is this conception emphasized (Isa. xli. 14; xliii. 14; xliv. 6, 24, et passim).
Avenger of Blood.
However, the chief of the go’el’s duties toward his kinsman was that of avenging him if he should happen to be slain by some one outside the clan or tribe. This custom is found in all early or primitive civilizations (comp. Post, “Studien zur Entwickelungsgesch. des Familienrechts,” pp. 113-137). Indeed, it is the only expedient by which any check could be put upon the tendency to do injury to strangers. Here again the principle of solidarity was applied to the family of the murderer, and the death of one member of a family would generally result in a vendetta. It would appear that this custom was usual in early Israel, for the crimes of a man were visited upon his family (Josh. vii. 24; II Kings ix. 26); but at a very early stage the Jewish code made an advance upon most Semitic codes, including that of Hammurabi, by distinguishing between homicide and murder (Ex. xxi. 13, 14). It was in order to determine whether a case of manslaughter was accidental or deliberate that the Cities of Refuge were instituted (Deut. xix.; Num. xxxv.). In a case where the elders of the city of refuge were satisfied that the homicide was intentional, the murderer was handed over to the blood-avenger (“go’el ha-dam”)to take vengeance on him. Even if it was decided that it was a case of unintentional homicide, the man who committed the deed had to keep within the bounds of the city of refuge till the death of the high priest, as the go’el could kill the homicide with impunity if he found him trespassing beyond the bounds (Num. xxxv. 26, 27).
In other legislations grew the principle of commuting the penalty by a money fine, known among the Anglo-Saxons as “wergild,” which varied in amount according to the rank of the person; but such a method was distinctly prohibited in the Israelite code (Num. xxxv. 31).
It would appear that the custom of the blood-avenger still existed in the time of David, as the woman of Tekoah refers to it in her appeal to the king (II Sam. xiv. 11), but no further trace of it is found. Later the concentration of the population in cities gave fuller power to the courts of justice to punish cases of murder. The term “go’el” thus became entirely confined to the spiritual sense of “redeemer.” It is probably used in that way in the celebrated passage in Job xix. 25: “I know that my redeemer [go’el] liveth.” In the Talmud it is used exclusively in this manner.

The Goel
Normally, the role of the Kinsman Redeemer, or Goel in the case of the death of an adult male without progeny, is to bear children to their name.  This is seen as part of the Levirate Law (Deut. 25:5-11) to fulfill the responsibility of the Goel, first to fall to the brother, to be accepted by him (see Gen. 38:11-30: the story of Tamar; Judah’s daughter-in-law, mother of Phares, listed in Luke 3:33 as part of the lineage of Christ, she is mentioned in Matt. 1:3), however, if a brother or closest in bloodline refused, as seen in the book of Ruth, then the man that refused would perform a ritual of taking off his shoe and handing it to the next inline of kinship that would redeem the progeny and the land.4

Naomi gave specific instructions to Ruth on how to secure back the property of Naomi’s husband’s family, and gain an inheritance by marrying the kinsman and bearing children.  During the harvest festival there was a procedure whereby after Boaz had went to sleep on the floor of the grain thrashing floor (so as to protect the grain that they had thrashed, separating the wheat from the chaff), Ruth was to go to sleep at his feet and cover up with the hem of his overcoat.
The Hebrews had a tradition that the hem of their overcoat would display emblems which would identify their position within the family and their authority, similarly to how military soldiers wear patches on their arm, or ensign on their caller to identify their rank.  Ruth completed this, and during the night Boaz awoke, and she petitioned him to marry her under the law of Levirate marriage.  Boaz agreed, but determined that there was another kinsman closer in relationship to her.  Therefore, Boaz approached the individual, and managed to obtain the right of the kinsman Redeemer (Deut. 25:5-11).  In doing so he purchased back the land for Naomi, and raised up children for Ruth and her inheritance as one of the tribes of Israel.  One of Ruth’s sons is named in the lineage of Jesus as stated above.

As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. [43] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. [44] She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped.
[45] “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.
When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”
[46] But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”
[47] Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. [48] Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor
3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home[a] for you, where you will be well provided for. 2 Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor. 3 Wash, put on perfume, and get dressed in your best clothes. Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking. 4 When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”
5 “I will do whatever you say,” Ruth answered. 6 So she went down to the threshing floor and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.
7 When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. 8 In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!
9 “Who are you?” he asked.
“I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer[b] of our family.”
10 “The Lord bless you, my daughter,” he replied. “This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don’t be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All the people of my town know that you are a woman of noble character. 12 Although it is true that I am a guardian-redeemer of our family, there is another who is more closely related than I. 13 Stay here for the night, and in the morning if he wants to do his duty as your guardian-redeemer, good; let him redeem you. But if he is not willing, as surely as the Lord lives I will do it. Lie here until morning.”
14 So she lay at his feet until morning, but got up before anyone could be recognized; and he said, “No one must know that a woman came to the threshing floor. ”
15 He also said, “Bring me the shawl you are wearing and hold it out.” When she did so, he poured into it six measures of barley and placed the bundle on her. Then he[c] went back to town.
16 When Ruth came to her mother-in-law, Naomi asked, “How did it go, my daughter?”
Then she told her everything Boaz had done for her 17 and added, “He gave me these six measures of barley, saying, ‘Don’t go back to your mother-in-law empty-handed.’”
18 Then Naomi said, “Wait, my daughter, until you find out what happens. For the man will not rest until the matter is settled today.”